Monday, May 11, 2009

Part two comes by way of Rob from who now reads I Heart Halos (d'oh... lack of sleep is really screwing with me). I sent him some 1991 Topps and he sent 42 of the remaining 1989 Bowman cards I needed.

First, since I'm only missing a few Orioles, I think it's safe to say that THEY ALL LOOK EXACTLY THE FREAKIN' SAME!!!

I love this set. I really do, so don't take this the wrong way. While the photography is good, certainly better quality than base Topps, it's still bland and uninspired for the most part. I realize that they were probably trying to model the set on old Bowman, but the style of photography, to me at least, seems more akin to 1960s and early 70s baseball card photography.

And for anyone who's curious, the sticker under the monitor in the background is from a Raleigh, NC based doom metal band called Soulpreacher. They're along the lines of old My Dying Bride with maybe a bit of Anathema mixed in with some prog elements. Good stuff.

Anyhoo.

I wonder what El Presidente is laughing at. I really like this card, and as we all know, I'm a sucker for the old school Expos uniform.

He had a pretty good career, bordering on great. Not Hall of Fame material, but certainly a career to be proud of.

Ozzie Smith looks very uncomfortable.

And now, that rookie that I mentioned.

Ty Griffin was drafted as the 9th over all pick in the June 1988 draft by the Cubs out of Georgia Tech. He split the 1989 season between Single-A Peoria and Double-A Charlotte, and then bounced back and forth between High-A Winston-Salem and Charlotte in 1990 and 1991. He was picked up by the Reds and spent '92 at Double-A Chattanooga.

In 1993 and '94, Ty played in the independant Northern League, first for the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks and then for the Sioux City Explorers.

1995 saw him back in affiliated baseball with the Arkansas Travelers (Cardinals) where he played 94 games. He then spent '96 and '97 with the Grand Forks Varmints of the independant Prairie League.

In five minor league seasons, he hit .241/39/241. His numbers in four independant seasons were somewhat better: .287 with 43 home runs.

So there you have it. With Rob's help I'm now 63 cards away. The updated want list can be found here